Capt. Allison Encarnacion brought some friends home with her for Agrifest: The U.S. Air Force Band of the West.
Encarnacion, who grew up in Christiansted, was back home to lead recruitment efforts for the Air Force — and what better way than to bring music to Agrifest?
While the majority of the set list is pop music, the band surprised Encarnacion with a few Caribbean-flavored treats.
“They have a reggae song that they learned so that they can come down here and play it at Ag. Fair, and two soca songs,” she said.
“The whole goal is to get the Air Force name out there, create awareness of the Air Force, and, you know, show the people of St. Croix that this is another pathway to serving, especially for professional musicians,” she said. “The performances are mainly to support a recruiting effort. We, the 333rd Recruiting Squadron, cover 37,000 square miles across Central and South Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We have an on island recruiter whose office is in the Sunny Isles Shopping Center, and we’re gonna be taking the band to visit various schools this week.”
In addition to spreading the word about the Air Force and some good music, Encarnacion also gets to get some home cooking.
“My grandfather always makes me some breadfruit and salt fish. That’s kind of our thing whenever I come home,” she said.
The band performed twice Sunday — once at the Agrifest main stage and again at the Carambola Beach Resort. On Monday, they play in Frederiksted at 3:15 p.m. at 7 Strand Street. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they play on the Christiansted boardwalk at 6 p.m.
